Arequipa Travel Guide

About Arequipa City

"The White City" - World Heritage Site by UNESCO

The area was inhabited since 7600 B.C. by primitive men, and in the nearest antiquity it was inhabited by the tribe pre-Inca the Collaguas, and then conquered by the Inca Mayta Capac who ordered to found the first city, giving it the name towards 1300 B.C.

Garcí Manuel de Carbajal, Spaniard conqueror, was the founder of the Spanish city of Arequipa in August 15th, 1540 with the name of "Villa Hermosa de Arequipa". During the colonial time it was favored to be an intermediate point of the caravans that transported the immense shipments of silver of the rich mines of Potosi (Bolivia) towards Quilca, port in which was sent aboard for Callao and Spain.

Arequipa is the capital of the department of Arequipa, furrowed by the river Chili and it is located in the slopes of the Misti Volcano, 5,822 meters above sea level (19,101 feet), and very near to the volcanoes Chachani 6,075 meters above sea level (19,931 feet), and the Pichu Picchu 5,425 meters above sea level (17,798 feet).

Also known as the "Ciudad Blanca" (White City) for the numerous and magnificent constructions of temples, convents, colonial houses and palaces with white ashlar sculpted as filigree. It also possesses an excellent climate with almost 300 days of sun a year, with transparent blue sky.

Arequipa also offers an exquisite cuisine, beautiful landscapes of countryside, majestic volcanoes, the Colca Valley, challenges and adventures in Colca Canyon, protected natural areas, and the heat of friendly people willing to make the tourist enjoy their visit to Arequipa.

Arequipa is the second larger city of the country and the most important of the south of Peru, constitutes the main pole of economic development due to their multiple resources and to their irrigation projects that favor mainly to the agriculture and the cattle raising; industry of milk products and leathers. It has a modern hotel infrastructure.

Arequipa Guide

Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa:
Cultural World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Arequipa conserves one of the best
architectural treasures in the colonial time of Peru, expressed maybe in the
best way in its temples and religious convents and beautiful elegant
large-houses in colonial-mestizo architecture. The ornamented architecture in
the historic centre of Arequipa represents a masterpiece of the creative
integration of European and native characteristics, crucial for the cultural
expression of the entire region.

Monasterio de
Santa Catalina de Siena: It is one of the most fascinating colonial
religious building in Peru. A paradise for photographers. Santa Catalina was
built in Arequipa, the city that was founded in 1540 in a place specially chosen
for its natural beauty and good climate, and with a unique construction
material: sillar, a porous stone from volcanic lava used to built a nice city
with our own architectural designs, with spaces and proportions of great
esthetic value, and also to have carvings on imposing fronts with fine
decorative details, making of Arequipa a colonial center of marked identity,
within the main urban centers of the continent. Its architectonic style is
mainly colonial, but of a mestizo nature. Different from other colonial
heritages in this part of Latin America, in Santa Catalina specially, the fusion
of Spanish and native elements can be observed to the point of generating it own
creativity.

The Countryside:(La Campiña) The agricultural area of the periphery of the city is embodied in
beautiful picturesque landscapes, in which numerous towns are located described
in "Areas around the City." It is as a great chessboard in different degrees of
green and with the Incan system of sowing in "andenerías". The
countryside of Arequipa has been a inexhaustible source of inspiration for
artists and poets.

The Colca Valley: Its the most popular excursion from Arequipa. Valley,
formed by the Colca river in which side banks exists a great beauty scene, hot
springs, and enormous cultural attractiveness where you will have an
encounter with the descendants of the Collaguas. Special place to appreciate a
Living Culture.

Arequipa Outdoors: The 100 Km long Colca Canyon, the deepest on the Earth, besides landscapes of indescribable
beauty, is one of the best sceneries in the world for rafting, canoeing,
trekking, and for the lovers of extreme adventure. Also for hiking lovers, they
have the possibility to get to the high and snowy crater of the volcanoes Misti
and Chachani. Also the Cotahuasi Canyon is the deepest canyon in the world. Its maximum depth is 3535 meters in the vicinity of Ninancocha, 335 meters more than the Colca Canyon. The Cotahuasi Canyon is an impressive chasm that the river has eroded between two enormous mountain massifs: the Coropuna (6425 m.a.s.l.) and the Solimana (6093 m.a.s.l.). One extends from spurs of the snow-covered Solimana to the confluence with the Ocoña river

Cotahuasi Valley and Canyon (Scenic Reserve of the Cotahuasi Sub-basin):
375 Km ( 233 miles) northwest of Arequipa (9 hours by car / 12 hours by public bus). Different altitudinal tiers have created the conditions for a large biological diversity with high indices of endemism in both the flora and fauna. The Cotahuasi Canyon includes twelve life zones and three ecological regions. It is considered the deepest in Peru 3,535 m. (11.598 feet).

The Valley of the Volcanoes: 323 Km / 201 miles northeast from Arequipa (9 hours by car). The Valley of the Volcanoes was the center of strenuous convulsions in the volcanic mountain chain 200.000 years ago. We can still see today an extensive layer of lava over which around eighty-six smaller inactive volcanoes have emerged. It reaches an altitude of 3,546 m.a.s.l. (11,634 f.a.s.l.)